diet for borderline diabetic

My husband's blood sugar has risen this past year and now is at the level where the doctor wants him to watch his intake of anything that will raise his blood sugar, Problem is we do not know what foods to avoid, outside the obvious ones of cakes and cookies. Would appreciate some advice.

I was really surprised to find out which foods were ones to avoid. If you Google Glycemic index - it is really easy to find reliable information on the Internet.

The biggest surprise for me was that some of the foods that are really high are fruits and some vegetables.(What can I say? I was never very good at science)
I guess with all the sources telling you fruits and vegetables are healthy - it never occurred to me. Fruit juices are generally very high.

Some vegetables that are high on the GI are carrots and peppers.

And next - many carbs - especially white flour type carbs - are high too.

My husband's blood sugar has risen this past year and now is at the level where the doctor wants him to watch his intake of anything that will raise his blood sugar, Problem is we do not know what foods to avoid, outside the obvious ones of cakes and cookies. Would appreciate some advice.

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Try eating foods that have a low glycemic load. The less processed food is, the lower its GL is likely to be.

Here's a link to a page about the glycemic index, which is similar to the glycemic load except that it doesn't take into account the amount of carbs being consumed (the GI is actually used in the calculation of the GL).

Avoid hidden fake sugars in things you hadn't imagined. High fructose corn syrup can turn up in the weirdest places. I would just avoid HFCS in general.

I would also schedule a meeting with a diabetic dietician. Call you doctor to see if he knows one.

If you eat out a lot, get one of those guides that shows nutritional facts for restaurants, and try to avoid high-carbohydrate meals. In general, try not to eat anything that is processed. Whole, real food only.

My mom has become a borderline diabetic due to the wonders of genetics and she basically eats lean proteins (chicken, fish, etc), vegetables (mostly dark greens), and whole grains. She avoids white bread, potatoes, any kind of dessert, saturated fats like butter and bacon, corn, etc. She also limits her fruit intake.

I have heard that it is better to eat a fruit or berries as a snack between the meals and not directly after a meal. Also it is better to eat less and eat several times per day. The goal is to keep the blood sugar level even.

I would also schedule a meeting with a diabetic dietician. Call you doctor to see if he knows one.

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^^This. A dietician will give you a target/max carbs to hit at each meal and a limit for the day.

You should actually be looking more at total carb count as opposed to just the sugar content. Fiber is very important- it factors into the carb counting. If something has 25g carbs, and 0g fiber, it is counted as 25g of carbs toward your daily total. If, however, you eat something with 25g carbs and 5g fiber, it counts as only 20g carbs.

Essentially, you subtract the number of fiber grams from the carbs to calculate.

Your doctor didn't discuss this with you or recommend a nutritionist? There is plenty of advice online but plenty of that advice is wrong, as well. I would go speak to a nutritionist if your insurance will cover it.

I agree that your husband should see a nutritionist or doctor. (Also ask them to recommend a good book.)

Most vegetables and even a lot of fruits are fine in moderation because of the fiber. (Juices are a different story.) Under doctor's orders, my sister got her diabetes under control with diet. She was eating more fruit and vegetables than she was before, though she basically hadn't been eating any fruit or vegetables before. She had been a junk food junkie -- lots of bad carbs.

My husband was diagnosed at a type II diabetic about 18 months ago. Our family doctor arranged for him to attend a clinic with dieticians (etc) who are diabetic savvy. I attended the first meeting where they explained what a type II diabetic is, about counting carbs, being on meds, what to watch for when eating, etc. etc. etc. Now my mom had been diagnosed as "borderline" diabetic so I asked these experts what that meant. I was told that there is no such thing as an actual borderline diabetic but what is usually meant is that the readings are on the high side of normal.

My best advice, find a nutritionist who is diabetes savvy and make an initial appointment to see where you need to go from there. With my husband, he can eat pretty much anything but we are both trying to each a bit healthier for both our sakes. He's on the low end of meds and as long as he exercises for at least 20 minutes a day (usually in the evening after we have supper), his numbers are good. In fact, the aviation people think his morning numbers are a bit low and were concerned he might pose a problem so ... he took readings after he ate and showed those to the same people.

Now my mom had been diagnosed as "borderline" diabetic so I asked these experts what that meant. I was told that there is no such thing as an actual borderline diabetic but what is usually meant is that the readings are on the high side of normal.

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Except if you are "pre" diabetic or "borderline" diabetic, your liver is already getting its beta cells killed off. By the time you get diagnosed as Type II diabetic, you've lost around 50% of your beta cells. And they can't grow back.

Really what it means to be pre-diabetic or borderline diabetic is that you have diabetes but the medical community isn't willing to treat you for it yet.

There is actually a move to change the criteria and what is considered a normal range so that pre-diabetics are diagnosed as diabetics and get treatment earlier. I'm all for that as I was somewhat appalled to find out that Mr. Mac had spent years losing beta cells just because no one was willing to call him a diabetic.

I'm Type 2 and other than the excellent advice given above, perhaps invest in Better Homes and Gardens Diabetic Living magazine. It's the only magazine out there for Diabetics on the news stands and it's got excellent tips in it for both Types 1 and 2. Also awesome recipes and because it's Better Homes and Gardens, you *know* they've been tested w/in an inch of their life.

It's been a great asset to me and I can't reccomend it enough to those who are newly diagnoised. Good luck to you and your husband.

Here's a tip for you, if your husband likes potatoes. Hot, baked (dry) potatoes do have a high glycemic load. The wetter, boiling kinds (usually reds) have a MUCH lower glycemic index, and if you let them cool, the starch actually changes form to a resistant starch, which is a form of soluble fibre, which is very very good for you, and the potato has a much lower glycemic index. We are doing a lot of research on Potato starch qualities at my workplace and it is really interesting.

It's also true for other starchy foods like rice, that some of the starch becomes resistant starch when cooled.

Whole wheat or refined, they both have the same amount of sugars and starches. Carbs and sugar are both what you are trying to limit. They both increase the glycemic index of food (actually, sugar is a kind of carb, that's why it might be confusing you).

By the way- cold pasta is like potatoes, it has some of it's carbs cool into resistant starch.

What should I be looking for, foods that are low in carbs or low in sugar? All the whole wheat pastas I saw had the same number of carbs as regular pasta.

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You should focus on the carb content as well as the fiber. Look at the grams of fiber and subtract that nuymber from the amount of carbs per serving. This will give you your net carbs for a particular food.

My father was given the following target numbers for each meal:
40 carbs for breakfast
40-60 carbs for lunch
40-60 carbs for dinner
Two snacks- each with no more than 20 carbs

He switched to Pepperidge Farm "Carb Style" wheat bread, and generally uses whole grain products. Lots of veggies. The trick is finding food that fills him up. Yes, he can eat pizza, for example, but generally only a slice or so before he goes over his limit for the meal. Not really filling.

I want to stress that THESE ARE HIS NUMBERS!!! Your husband needs to see a specialist to be put on a program that works for him. I hope with diet and exercise he can turn this around. Good luck!!

For those who remember the BBC series "Poldark", it's the website of Robin Ellis who played Ross Poldark. He's published a book of recipes for diabetic and posts lots of interesting snippets about his current life in the French countryside.

The idea (very simplified) is that we are genetically most suited to consume foods that have been consumed for many many thousands of years before "civilization" ie. to eat the same way as cavemen. In practical terms, a strict paleo diet completely excludes all grains, dairy and legumes (and of course all processed foods) which leaves lean meats tons of vegetables, some fruit (some fruits are very high in sugars thouhgh) and good fats, so the end result is a low carb (and enjoyable) diet.

I don't think I could follow the paleo diet although I sort of tend in that direction in that I cook a lot of roasts meats and make meat soups from scratch (for example, the broth bath I roast a turkey in is a good base for quite a few soups). I don't care for frozen prepared meals or most packaged foods just because I find don't like how they taste. Ditto fast foods - I don't like the fat they are cooked in. I don't worry about fat too much, too be honest. If I roast a chicken, I eat the skin. For cooking, I prefer olive oil to butter.

All that said, I don't eat meat every day. I do like cheese though, as an alternative.

My first question about this diet is its inclusion of butter. Hunter gathers did not eat butter, it was an agricultural product that was first produced at about the same time as cheese. Milk would probably have been the first dairy product, before butter. If butter is okay, milk and cheese could arguably be as well.

Plus, just because hunter gathers didn't eat legumes and grains doesn't mean that grains and legumes are unhealthy. The introduction of these food products into the human diet improved health and life expectancy.

Hunter gatherers used to hunt their meat, which was hard and dangerous work. When game was scarce, many died. Since we don't hunt and gather anymore, we don't need need to eat as if we do.

Aboriginals used to make and store pemmican - a mix of fat and berries - to get them through the lean season. I'd love some of that every day for breakfast, but am not so sure it's a good idea.

My first question about this diet is its inclusion of butter. Hunter gathers did not eat butter, it was an agricultural product that was first produced at about the same time as cheese. Milk would probably have been the first dairy product, before butter. If butter is okay, milk and cheese could arguably be as well.

Plus, just because hunter gathers didn't eat legumes and grains doesn't mean that grains and legumes are unhealthy. The introduction of these food products into the human diet improved health and life expectancy.

Hunter gatherers used to hunt their meat, which was hard and dangerous work. When game was scarce, many died. Since we don't hunt and gather anymore, we don't need need to eat as if we do.

Aboriginals used to make and store pemmican - a mix of fat and berries - to get them through the lean season. I'd love some of that every day for breakfast, but am not so sure it's a good idea.

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Actually this diet is based on a movie-version of what paleo man ate. There were already some villages were limited agriculture was going on during the paleo time and their diet varied quite a bit based on geography. In some parts of the world, they consumed dairy!

On top of that, there have been some major gene shifts since those times including one that specifically gave us a better ability to digest dairy and grains.

It's processed foods that are relatively new on the food chain and we haven't really adapted well to yet because it's been such a short time.

I would recommend seeing a nutritionist about this, to figure out meal plans.

Just off the top of my head, whole grains, veggies, fruit are good (that's true even if you don't have Diabetes). Small amounts of desserts can still be eaten (e.g. a small mint after a meal), but you have to be very disciplined about it. Like any diet, an occasional slip won't hurt that much, as long as it is only occasional.

Fruits have sugar. Fructose is better than white sugar, but it still is a sugar, so the amount needs to be controlled. A balanced meal and regular moderate exercise (more than anything else) is the key to controlling blood glucose.

Actually this diet is based on a movie-version of what paleo man ate. There were already some villages were limited agriculture was going on during the paleo time and their diet varied quite a bit based on geography. In some parts of the world, they consumed dairy!

On top of that, there have been some major gene shifts since those times including one that specifically gave us a better ability to digest dairy and grains.

It's processed foods that are relatively new on the food chain and we haven't really adapted well to yet because it's been such a short time.

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MacMadame--no introducing accurate history and physiology into the world of fad diets!

Next you'll be suggesting that hygiene improved health! And I know some people who have stopped bathing because it is natural that do not want to hear that! (Seriously, I know a couple who no longer bath or even wash their hands because ancient people allegedly did not and they were allegedly healthier--it is pretty gross!)

I'm glad someone recommended the paleo diet. I myself have been doing a version of the paleo diet for almost a year. It's called the primal blueprint and the main difference with paleo is that it includes dairy. I really recommend checking this out - the diet may seem a little extreme at first but once you get used to it, it is easy and enjoyable. I don't have any diabetes issues, but my health improved noticeably and I lost a lot of weight with it. Since it's a low carb diet, a large number of people who follow it have reported that their diabetes disappeared or became a lot more manageable.
Here's their guide to diabetes: http://www.marksdailyapple.com/diabetes/
And here's the quick guide to what you should eat and not eat: http://www.marksdailyapple.com/introducing-the-new-primal-blueprint-food-pyramid/

Whole wheat pasta and white pasta will have the same amount of carbohydrates. However, the carbs in the whole wheat pasta are significantly more complex than the refined carbs of the white pasta. Therefore, it takes longer to digest, and his bloodsugar won't spike. White flour will cause blood sugar to spike very quickly.

I had gestational diabetes while pregnant and had to meet with a nutritionist/CDE. What worked to keep my numbers down:

1. Avoid milk & fruit in the morning.

2. Breakfast needed to have the lowest carb count & was usually one slice of buttered toast with 1-2 eggs.

3. Eat a mid-morning and mid-afternoon snack that had a healthy balance of carbs/protein/fat. Some of my staples were string cheese & nuts; half a protein bar; greek or icelandic yogurt; 1 piece of fruit with peanut butter; fresh veggies with ranch dip; mini-antipasti plate; tuna/chicken salad with crackers.

4. Limiting fruit to two servings per day, preferably citrus or berries.

5. Portion controlled lunches & dinners, especially with regard to carb portions. I could eat white rice, pasta, etc., but it had to be only 1/3 -1/2 a cup.

6. Exercising 15-20 minutes after dinner.

7. BEDTIME SNACK. It seemed counterintuitive for me to eat when I wasn't hungry, but my fasting AM sugars were always highest when I skipped my nighttime snack. 4-6oz of skim milk was the best for me.

8. Make sure to stay well hydrated.

Fortunately my numbers returned to normal after I delivered, but I'm still at a greater risk to develop type 2 because of it. I don't eat exactly like this anymore, but I'm still mindful of carbs and always try to maintain a higher protein diet.

This is what I don't get. Ancient humans had a lifespan of something like 35 years. Of course they weren't healthier!

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They had a lifespan of 35 years mostly because they got killed by the game they were hunting, or broke a leg and died of infection etc. Their short lifespans were due accident, starvation or infection, not diabetes, heart attacks or cholesterol - and have you ever seen a fat man in cave paintings??